Sen. Raphael Warnock triumphs in Georgia Senate race against Herschel Walker

An astronomical number of voters cast their ballots early in the Georgia runoff election. In fact, as of Monday, 77,000 people who had not voted in the 2022 midterm election in November cast their ballots in the runoff.

According to NBC News and Cook Political Report, incumbent Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock has won the race against Trump-endorsed NFL veteran Herschel Walker.

The latter had been plagued with a number of scandals and ongoing mockery for bizarre statements he's made in speeches. The comments even led former President Barack Obama to needle the former Heisman Trophy winner for his urgency to talk about the vampire vs. werewolf battle Walker saw in a movie.

Republicans rushed to aid Walker in his race with small rallies outside of his bus, driving around the state: Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Tim Scott (R-SC), to name a few.

Toward the end, the polls had Warnock ahead of Walker but still within the margin of error. MSNBC reporters on the ground said that the lines in Democratic strongholds were mostly quiet, while conservative counties have been plagued with lines.

The ongoing question was always whether Republicans could get voters to care about the race because it would not throw the balance of power to the GOP the way it did in 2020.

The new voting law put in place did have an impact on several voters. One election official told MSNBC earlier on Tuesday that for every two voters she has to tell one person that they're in the wrong place.

Walker held back from campaigning over the Thanksgiving break, spending his time focusing on a single day at the Georgia football game.

NBC News reported Monday that Cobb County Republican Robert Trim, who won a state house seat in November, said he was supporting Walker, but he wasn't convinced Walker could win. He compared the Walker run to ex-Sen. David Perdue's (R-GA) failed runoff in 2020, when he lost to now Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA).

“I don’t feel very confident,” Trim said. “I never have felt confident in where he’s positioned. So I’m probably less confident now than I was before.”